As the New Year approaches, most of you will be thinking about resolutions
that will make your 2015 the best year yet. If you are wanting to improve
your grades, there are habits that you can adopt that will help you to
learn smarter, not harder. Here are some tips to improve your grades while
spending less time learning.

Got Skills?

The first thing to ask yourself is if your study skills are up to par.
Knowing how to study is an art that is perfected over many years. If you
aren’t sure that your study skills are any good, ask you teacher or
tutor to help. You have to practice your sports skills, music skills and gaming
skills and study skills are no different. If you have been studying in
the same way since elementary school, chances are your study skills are
outdated. You could be working much smarter and therefore spending less
time studying for greater results.

The same goes for your essay and assignment writing skills. Perfecting
the art of assignment writing is vital for your academic success all the
way to college. Ask your
tutor to work on your writing skills to ensure that you streamline and perfect
your processes.

Learning Style

Everyone has a learning style; perhaps you like listening to lectures (auditory)
or you like watching videos and making mind maps (visual) or maybe you
like doing experiments (kinesthetic). Most people use a combination of
these styles to learn and knowing what learning style you are best at
will mean that you can convert information into that style to absorb it easier.

For example, if you are a visual learner, watching YouTube videos of demonstrations
will help you to grasp difficult concepts. You will also be able to quickly
memorize facts when you write them into a mind map rather than reading
from the text book. Knowing how to best present information will mean
you understand more and learn faster.

Get Organized

For most students, organization is the key to better academic performance.
We all know the feeling; you forgot you had a test, you left your homework
at home, or you’re up all night trying desperately to complete an
assignment. If you are always leaving things to the last minute, never
have everything you need for class or forget to hand in assignments then
you’re not fulfilling your potential. Being good at organizing your
time and getting things done will be a life skill that will help you through
college and then on to your professional life.

Eat yourself Smart!

Just like athletes need to fuel their performance with the right food,
you need to feed your brain. Your brain uses 20% of your calorie intake
and runs best on carbohydrates and protein. If you have a big exam coming
up, don’t pull an all-nighter; your performance drops a grade for
every 2 hours sleep you miss out on. Don’t rely on coffee and donuts
as you won’t be able to concentrate. Instead opt for water, green
tea and exercise. Sleep well and eat a very healthy diet filled with nuts,
fruit, veggies, whole grains and protein. This will help you to concentrate,
will improve memory and higher cognitive functions because a healthy body
really does mean a healthy mind.

We all take tests that can cause stress - English, math, driver’s education or college entrance exams to name but a few. And what we find - regardless of subject or potential consequence - is that feeling prepared is the #1 tool in pushing back against test anxiety.

March 1st marked the beginning of Women’s History Month! All of us here at Tutor Doctor would like to thank the many magnificent women that have changed the way we look at education. Here are some influential women in education that we’d like to thank for making the world a better place!